Gateshead College Invests in Future Engineers

Posted on the 17 May 2016

Gateshead
College is investing over £300,000 in new machinery and revamping training
programmes to address the North East’s shortage of highly skilled engineers.

The
college’s £5.5 million purpose built Skills Academy for Automotive,
Engineering, Manufacturing and Logistics based at Team Valley in Gateshead, has
seen a recent investment of more than £200,000 in state-of-the-art lathes,
milling machines and supporting tools. A further £100,000 has been earmarked
for more tooling equipment in the summer.

The
machines and tools match those found in cutting-edge engineering and
manufacturing workplaces and will be used to deliver the college’s range of
revamped workforce development courses that have been developed hand in hand
with leading industry employers.

Listening
to feedback from businesses, the college has also redesigned its learning and
development programmes to focus more on practical learning time with clear
progression routes from pre-apprentice to higher level skills.

Ivan
Jepson, director of business development at Gateshead College, said: “We know
that the shortage of skilled workers in the industry is a growing concern among
firms across the region. We’re taking action by making a significant investment
in training future engineers to give employers access to the highest standard
learning and development programmes and training facilities, helping them to
prepare their workforce for advances in engineering techniques and practices.

“Employers
have told us that they need more time spent on the development of practical
skills. While the more academic route is valuable and we’ll continue to offer
it, we’ve responded to industry needs by going back to basics to deliver professional
and technical training that helps our business partners remain strong and
competitive.

“Investing
in the latest technology and extra machines and tools means students get more
out of their time in the workshops, and one-to-one training sessions allow
apprentices to spend more time doing and less time observing.”

Gateshead
College is playing a key role in training and upskilling staff at many of the
region’s leading manufacturing and engineering employers including Nissan,
Vantec, Lear Corporation, and most recently, CPS Drivelink Ltd.

Paul
Sowerby, engineering director at CPS Drivelink Ltd, said: “Gateshead College
was highly reactive to our request for a bespoke training course that would
train and upskill a few of our employees in welding skills. It was as simple as
telling them what was needed and they came back to us with a solution that
meant we were able to get our staff trained up quickly without impacting on
daily operations. We’ve now
significantly developed our business, increased sales and met customers’
requirements through this professional training.”